Responding to Natural Disasters

The geographical characteristics of Japan and Southeast Asian nations place these countries at high risk for typhoons, floods, earthquakes, tsunami, and other natural disasters. In this region, a variety of data on past disasters is being used to create disaster readiness measures for strengthening embankments and other structures. It is impossible to build seabed-sited or land-sited breakwaters of two or three times the usual height in preparation for a once-per-millennium earthquake. After the Great East Japan Earthquake, the approach is increasingly being taken to minimize damage through life-saving disaster mitigation.

Fujitsu has developed systems that aggregate and use volumes of past data to aid disaster readiness. Together with this, we have proposed mechanisms for disaster mitigation that predict damage through sensors that assess weather conditions and changes in the natural environment in real-time.

Leveraging Japan’s Knowledge of Disaster Countermeasures to Build a Disaster Information Management System for Indonesia

Like Japan, the island nation of Indonesia is geographically prone to natural disasters. Disaster countermeasures are a pressing issue especially in the capital region of Jakarta, the political and economic center of the country.

The Regional Disaster Management Agency of Jakarta's local government investigated the adoption of a system to improve disaster information management, which had been a time-consuming manual system. Fujitsu built a Disaster Information Management System (DIMS) for the agency by leveraging expertise that had been built up in supporting disaster countermeasures in Japan. Fujitsu developed SMS-based information broadcasts matched to the local conditions of Jakarta, as well as a portal site, based on functions provided in Japan. DIMS enables centralized management of river level information, automated warnings, real-time information collection from disaster sites and unified display of the information, which helps the agency make rapid decisions such as issuing evacuation orders during disasters.

Fujitsu continues to contribute to disaster countermeasures in Jakarta through efforts to enhance the system, such as information sharing with other agencies, and to improve system operation and maintenance support.

Bambang Surya PutraHead of Informatics Section BPBD DKI Jakarta

Toward Sure and Effective Disaster Mitigation Activities

The solution from Fujitsu has helped us in accelerating information management during disaster mitigation process, particularly during the great flooding that hits DKI Jakarta. Back when we still used manual systems during the 2012 flooding, it took five days to receive integrated data, such as flood points and inundated areas. Meanwhile our web portal, which should provide information to the public, did not function effectively. In the January 2014 floods, however, with the support of Fujitsu's disaster management information system, we were able to obtain real time information, and distribute it on time, to ensure effective coordination in the whole disaster mitigation process.

In Japan
Creating a high-reliability system for weather information, emergency warnings, warnings, and advisories

Forecast operations room

Japan's geographical characteristics make it a country always under the threat of frequent typhoons, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.

Reducing the damage from such disasters calls for constant monitoring and prediction of phenomena that may lead to disaster – weather, the ocean, earthquakes, volcanoes, and more – and 24-hour, 365-day provision of accurate information.

By constructing the Automated Meteorological Data Acquisition System (AMeDAS) and the Automated Data Editing and Switching System (ADESS), Fujitsu is supporting the Japan Meteorological Agency's work of observation, monitoring, prediction, and reporting. The weather observation and the information, warnings, and advisories provided by AMeDAS and ADESS help enrich daily life, and are used broadly as information that contributes to disaster prevention and mitigation, traffic safety, and industrial development.

Fujitsu will continue to support the growth of the system with high reliability, and will contribute to the realization of a safe and secure society through advanced ICT.

In China
Constructing a water resource management system to support flood and drought countermeasures in China

Lower reaches of the Yangtze River

The direct economic losses due to natural disasters in China average over 200 billion yuan (about 3 trillion yen), with flood- and drought-related damages particularly severe.

In addition to provincial water resource management, the Water Resources Department of Jiangsu Province was faced with the priority issue of readying an information system for flood and drought countermeasures. In response, Fujitsu worked with the Water Resources Department to construct a system for water resource monitoring, control, and early warning. Through this system, Fujitsu is meeting the province's need for water resource security and for accurate and rapid transmission of water level information to water resource departments and other government bodies during floods or droughts.

From here on out, Fujitsu will contribute to natural disaster initiatives for which international cooperation is considered necessary, and will contribute to safety and security worldwide through ICT.